What Are The Fastest Flying Birds?

17 Answers

Some say the peregrine falcon (often called "duck hawk" in the United States because of its fondness for duck dinners). This bird, with a powerful, compact body and long pointed wings, obviously saves its greatest bursts of speed for mealtime. One naturalist, observing hungry falcons, reported: "Many times I have seen one, high above me, turn its nose downward, give a mighty flap for thrust, then close its wings and plummet toward the earth like a hurled stone." During these dives, the falcon is believed to reach 180 miles an hour or more. One falcon swiftly passed up an airplane nosediving at over 170 miles an hour, the pilot reporting that it was as though his plane "was standing still."

Other persons mention the frigate bird as possibly being the fastest. Magnificently designed for flying, this speedster with pointed wings has a tremendous wingspread of six feet. It has been called "a flying-machine . . . unparalleled in nature." Though a flying speed of about a hundred miles an hour has been recorded for this bird, yet it is believed to be capable of much greater speeds. J. E. Capstickdale observed frigate birds over his schooner, heading toward an island. He timed them by chronometer, and reported their speed as 261.4 miles an hour. But this speed is disputed by most authorities.

The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest bird, and in fact the fastest animal on the planet, when it comes in hunting dive, the stoop, in which it soars to a great height, then dives steeply at a very fast speed. However, when it comes in level flight the Spine-tailed Swift is the fastest.

The Peregrine does not achieve it’s speed while flying, only in a dive.The definition of flying is “The abilty to maintain level flight under one’s own power.” That is what the Wright brothers had to prove.Not only is the Peregrine not the fastest flyer, it’s not even the fastest creature. Migrating birds, riding the high altitude winds, can reach speeds of between 200mph and 300mph.